One of the tasks I find most challenging when writing a novel is changing the time scale.
So far in Above World, only a few minutes or a few hours pass during each chapter. The shortest chapter details the events of five minutes or so, while the longest might cover half a day. I try to keep the immediacy, to stay close inside my PoV characters’ heads.
However, I’ve just reached an important time jump—I want three weeks to go by in the space of a few paragraphs, and I want to summarize the events of those weeks, not just skip them.
Jumping into the time warp and jumping out again is tricky. Have I chosen the right exit and re-entry points? Am I maintaining the PoV character’s voice despite resorting to a summary mode? Does it feel as jarring to the reader as it does to me?
Jade Tiger has very few time jumps of this sort, so I don’t have a lot of experience with altering the time scale of my novel in this way. Anyone else find this area tricky to navigate? I’d sure love some tips and tricks!
To offer comment in a way that equates the discipline of writing with an evolving martial practice …
When you are sparring in kung-fu, what do you do when you reach a point of stale-mate with your opponent?
The key to recovering momentum and initiative is the same, whether one is moving forward a single step or many.
I hope this insight helps.
Without knowing what you're really talking about, I'd say find ways to show instead of tell.
Like, I dunno. Have the custom lunch box she's been waiting for (the one with the three-week delivery estimate she keeps complaining about) finally show up.
I realy felf that the lapses of time did not really matter. IT was a fast-paced book with just a great amount of detail. In most books where you read about fighting, they say they did this technique or this style, but Jade Tiger gives info and a great story plot
Thank you so much, Shelby!!! You've made my day. :-D